Kim leads Texas Open after Spieth shoots 73

Kim Si-woo remains the man to beat at the Texas Open after maintaining his lead after the third round as Jordan Spieth faded.

South Korean Kim – who became the youngest winner of the Players Championship in 2017 – carded a three-under-par 69 on Saturday.

Kim, 23, used four birdies to improve to 15 under through 54 holes, a shot ahead of Canadian Corey Conners at TPC San Antonio.

But, Kim's round did not start well. He bogeyed the par-four first hole for the second time this week after going blemish-free on Friday.

Kim was able to fire off a handful off birdies to get some strokes back and nearly repeated a hole-in-one of the par-three 16th — he ultimately parred the hole.

Si Woo Kim had a hole-in-one on the 16th hole Friday.On Saturday, he nearly did it again. pic.twitter.com/vwmgi3xc8I
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) April 6, 2019

It is the first time Kim has led entering a final round, and he has some very close competition.

Conners, who is yet to win on the PGA Tour since turning professional in 2015, posted a third-round 66 to be within striking distance, while 2016 champion Charley Hoffman (64) is a stroke further back at 13 under.

Scott Brown (67), Jhonattan Vegas (67) and Lee Kyoung-hoon fill out the top five and sit tied for fourth place at 11 under.

Meanwhile, former world number one Spieth endured a difficult day as he lost ground in the race for the Texas title.

Spieth teed off in a tie for second position but the three-time major champion posted a forgettable one-over-par 73.

Never give up on a round ...Jordan Spieth didn't. pic.twitter.com/pf5P2F9e0g
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) April 6, 2019

Four strokes back from the leader at the start of play, Spieth went six-over 42 on the front nine, which included two double-bogeys and two bogeys without a birdie.

Spieth, though, managed to go five-under 31 following the turn thanks to five birdies to be seven under overall, alongside the likes of Rickie Fowler (73).